


Crash and Burn

by ohnonick



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, F/M, Growing Up, M/M, Multi, Other, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16665337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohnonick/pseuds/ohnonick
Summary: The IPRE have been friends since childhood, but, after a heist goes wrong and leaves them all restless, Lucretia takes the wheel.





	Crash and Burn

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an introduction in regards to how they met, the interesting part will come in the next chapters because time skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

The small boy groaned as the fifth grader dragged him through the woods. He would protest, but his best friend just looked so happy. She walked at a quick pace, her unnaturally white curls bouncing with every step. Who knew somebody could be so excited about the creek?

“Okay! Here’s the best part!” she exclaimed, bending down. Pushing the camouflage tarp aside, the girl revealed a hatch. Hastily, she turned it, opening up a hole that lead underground. Out of breath, she yelled, “Ta-da!” With jazz hands she dropped down her sketchbook and began to climb down.

“A-are you sure that’s safe, Lucretia?” the boy asked nervously. It wasn’t just his fear of heights stopping him. It had also been his skepticism that this bunker wasn’t home to some druggie or something.

“Barry, it’s fine! I’ve been here a million- Who are you?!” Lucretia screamed.

Barry’s heart jumped into his throat as he heard the girl’s shriek. Worriedly, he peered down, hoping to see his friend climbing back up. Instead, he saw her slowly walk inward with her hands up. “You’re too young to die!” he yelled down, “I haven’t even gotten a chance to cure death! Stop it!” He heard two voices echo from within the cave, neither of which belonged to his friend. He had to get help. “I-I’ll get the police. Trust me! I’ll-” He turned around, about to book it, until he crashed into two other people.

 

* * *

 

The young brunette laughed as his sister swished her hair around. “One day, I’ll wear a pretty dress and have longer blonde hair and it’s going to be fabulous like Barbie!” she announced, her brother cheering for her. He loved seeing her be happy with herself.

“Totally! And we’re gonna own a food truck called ‘Sizzle It Up (with Taako and Lup)’ and we’re going to tour the whole world.”

“Psshhh. Whole universe!”

“Like astronauts! Heeeck yeah!” The two eight-year-olds high fived, sitting down against the tree. They liked it out here. Nobody judged them there. Nobody judged how Lup acts like a she, and nobody judged how Taako cheered her on or applied her makeup. The woods started feeling like home more than home ironically. As the birds chirped around around them, Taako began dozing off, and Lup watched over him. That was a thing of theirs: they always watched over one another. They swore to always defend each other, even if that meant picking a fight. She snuggled against Taako, also about to sleep, until she heard yelling and the word “die.” Quickly, she shook Taako awake. “What? I was sleepi-” Quickly, she held a finger up to her brother’s mouth.

“Shhh.” Rather than speaking, she stood up and listened expectantly. It was a boy who was yelling, and he was close by. Confused, Taako got up, starting to follow the voice. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“He sounds like he needs help?” he replied, beginning to run. Hesitantly, his sister followed, smearing off her makeup with her sleeve as she walked. They silently entered a clearing with a boy bent down over a hatch-thingy. “Hey, I know him,” Taako whispered. “Isn’t he like Drew Barrymore or something? The fourth-grader always wearing jeans?”

“I think it’s Barold? Isn’t Drew Barrymore the girl from ET?” she muttered in return, unsure of herself. Silently, the two approached. Just as they peered behind him into the bunker, he turned around. Surprised, he backed up, falling in. All three of them screaming, Lup reached out to Barold, but unable to hold on to him. There was a loud thud, and suddenly six people, including the twins, were screaming as the boy was knocked out. The twins heard three voices shoot up from within the bunker, but the fourth unknown voice had come from straight ahead of them.

 

* * *

 

One. Two. Three! The boy punched the tree, causing a loud snap noise to echo through the creek. “Ow- ow- ow- ow-” he hissed, pulling his hand back. “This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought,” he sighed. Leaning against the tree, he found himself bored and disappointed. Shaking his head, he straightened up, whispering, “I’m going to train, and I’m going to save everyone from those stupid bullies. Just like that dog. Yeah. I do that.” Motivated, he began to jog through the woods.

“Magnus ‘The Hammer’ Burnsides leaps out from the alleyway and kicks the bandits!” he yelled, jumping out and kicking the trees. “Boom!” He kicked again, but fell onto his back. “Ugh. Maybe I should try something easier. Like punching. Or sword-fighting!” he yelled, picking up a stick. He spun through the trees, using the trees for balance. “Hiya!” he yelled, smacking a tree with the stick. “Take that! And that! And woaah!” He fell backwards into a clearing with three other kids. As he got back up, he saw the two apparent twins sneak up behind the yelling boy. Raising his eyebrow, he scurried behind a tree, curious about what was happening. Suddenly, as the boy turned around, was forced backwards and fell in. With a yell, Magnus ran out, wanting to save the kid from the fall.

But it was to late. A loud thud echoed through the pipe as he made contact with the floor. “What happened?” he yelled out to the twins in front of him. The one who looked like a girl after a bad prom night began to cry. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” she yelped. Immediately, Magnus noticed her strangely high-pitched voice, but he ignored it. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” She stepped back from Magnus, scared he’d report her.

“You didn’t hurt him, Lup!” the other kid reassured. He began to hug ‘Lup.’ “It’s okay. He walked backwards.” Suddenly, he glared upwards, staring daggers at Magnus. “She didn’t hurt him.” His sister cringed as she heard how her brother started the sentence, but she shook it off, realizing something much more important was happening.

“It’s our fault- is he okay? We scared him, Taki- We need to help him!” She pushed her twin away, beginning to crawl down.

“It might not be safe down there- ugh, fine!” Her brother followed suit, climbing down. “Oh how the turntables,” he muttered. Confused, Magnus followed along, thus starting the meeting of the biggest disaster to happen in Faerun.

 

* * *

 

“Checkmate.”

“Wh- there’s no way you’ve beaten me a hundred times, Dav,” the thirty-year-old groaned, slumping back into his seat.

“Count the tallies, old man,” the redhead smirked, marking the ‘win board’ once more. As the man in the hawaiian shirt whined, he rearranged the pieces for the next game. “You know what’s weird, Merle?”

“Hm?” he raised an eyebrow, pushing his oval-shaped glasses upward. “You probably rigging the game?”

“Pfft, no. I mean, I was ten when you were in college. That just messes me up that we’re friends at our ages.”

“Why? It’s still nice to see we  _ can _ be friends despite that,” Merle answered, moving one of his pawns. Davenport merely smiled, doing the same. “And, plus-” Suddenly, they noticed a book drop down at the ladder to the bunk. Instinctively, they both stopped talking, Merle getting up from the table. As he approached, he saw a short, dark-skinned girl with white hair climbing down. Raising an eyebrow, he watched her yell upwards before hopping off and turning around.

“.. been here a million- Who are you?!” she shrieked. It was clear she hadn’t expected two older men to be in the bunker.

“Better question: Who the hell are you, kid?” he replied annoyedly. Nervously, she walked towards him with her hands up.

“Merle, don’t be harsh. Come here. My name is Davenport, and this is our bunker. Now, he’s right. Who are you?”

“I’m Lucretia,” she murmured, ready to run at any moment. Her best friend kept yelling down from the top of the ladder, but she felt the need to ignore his pleas. She felt like she had to apologize first and foremost. “I’m sorry! I thought this bunker was abandoned, so I started coming here when I wanted ideas for things to draw. I hadn’t realized you two used this area as a hangout-”

“Geez, you’re wound-up, aren’t you?” Merle asked, laughing. “So you’re the kid who’s been touching my stuff?”

“Well, maybe?” Lucretia said, looking down. She nervously tugged at the hem of her dress shirt.

“Feel free to come around any time,” Davenport announced before Merle even had a say. “Ignore him. He’s a grumpy old man.”

“I’m thirty!”

“Shh. I know.”

Lucretia, unsure how to react, smiled. “Thank you, Davenport.” Then thud. The first one to scream was Merle, but it ended up being six different screams flooding the bunker. “Barry!” she yelled out. Quickly, she ran to his side and got onto her knees. Three different kids were climbing down the ladder above him, all slightly younger than Lucretia. “What did you guys do to him?!” she yelled, pushing Barry to check if he was conscious. The three began to all talk at once, panicked and equally as worried, but Lucretia could tell it was accidental or something. At least, that was what she hoped.

“Step aside,” Merle boomed, waddling over. “I’m a nurse- well, was a nurse.” He bent down next to Barry, checking his pulse. “He’s fine.”

“That’s all you checked?” Lup asked nervously.

“Yeah, just put him over on the couch.” Nonchalantly, he walked back, leaving Davenport and Lucretia to drag Barry onto the couch. As everyone settled around Barry, Merle yawned, saying, “Trust me, the fall didn’t kill him and we’ll figure out if something broke when he gets up. Anyways, are any of  _ you _ willing to carry him out?” He looked around, nobody agreeing to do so. “See. Guess I have to be a responsible adult and wait. You all can make yourselves comfortable.”

“I have an idea. Let’s play a game,” Davenport said uneasily, trying to ease the worries of the children, “called Dungeons and Dragons!” Hesitantly, all the kids nodded, gathering in a circle next to the couch. Lucretia leaned against the cushion, her hand on Barry’s arm. As the all talked quietly amongst themselves, Davenport looked through their shelves lined with model aircrafts, books, and board game boxes. Suddenly, he pulled out the game. They all knew how to play, albeit none of them have ever played. With a purse-lipped smile, he let everybody pick from the pre-made character sheets, announcing, “Okay, and Merle will be our DM.”

“No, I will not be DM. Dav, you’re DM.”

“But Merl-”


End file.
